3. Third Lecture: Science of Knowledge and Wissenschaftslehre

In this lecture, we shall explore Fichte’s approach in relation to Kant, to some extent. We know that for Kant, it was essential that humans possess a priori categories of understanding (Quality, Quantity, Relation, and Modality). We shall examine how Fichte’s approach provides a way to explain the genesis of these categories within the subject. We will also see how Fichte employed the dialectical process of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis in the positing of the I. This method not only forms the foundation of his philosophy but also profoundly influenced many thinkers, most notably Hegel.


A good way to make understanding Fichte's Science of Knowledge and his Wissenschaftslehre as a system easier is by relating it to Kant. Namely, Kant presupposed that we have inherited categories for understanding the world; however, he never explained how those were created. In his Science of Knowledge, Fichte explains how positing creates those abilities within the I ("Ich").

One could argue that relating everything to the "I" would make Fichte a solipsistic thinker, which is a logical reaction when reading him. One might even say that Fichte outdoes Schopenhauer, who claimed, "The world is my idea,” because Schopenhauer still saw the will to live as a force somewhat independent of positing the I. In contrast, Fichte’s approach seems to resemble a sealed garden that does not need anything beyond positing. However, there is more to Fichte than that (which we shall explore in relation to Anstoss, a concept that introduces something far more primordial and allows Fichte to make a strong case against being a plain solipsist).

When it comes to the man himself, Fichte, right from the beginning, defined two opposing approaches to philosophy: idealism vs. materialism, freedom vs. necessity, selfhood vs. thinghood. He unapologetically chose the first camp, deeming the opposing one dogmatic. Thus, recognizing and accepting his solipsistic idealism is helpful for understanding him. Let us see where it all started.

As early as 1793, when Fichte explored Reinhold's Elementar-Philosophie, he formed the idea that everything related to reality must be united and interconnected as it appears in a single mind. In his notes "Eigene Meditationen über Elementar-Philosophie," he states:

"There might be certain fundamental rules, universal rules, which apply to everything that occurs in the mind. For: everything must be assimilated ('aufgenommen') to the subjective unity; it occurs in a single mind; therefore, everything must be assimilable to this subjective unity, and everything must be in agreement, at least with this unity and with the conditions of this unity (if such conditions can be found)."

Here lies the key to understanding many of Fichte's concepts, which may seem complicated when taken out of the context of that idea. He demonstrates how the entire universe can exist and be created within the I using the dialectics of positing the Not-I. In other words, what he sets out to do is to write "the prequel" to Kant, explaining how the creation and development of categories of understanding can be conceptualized as parts of the I positing itself.


Fichte's Science of Knowledge and Kant's Categories of Understanding

Let us examine how Fichte's Science of Knowledge aligns with Kant's categories of understanding.

Kant identified four categories of understanding, each with subcategories:

1. Quantity: Unity, Plurality, and Totality

2. Quality: Reality, Negation, and Limitation

3. Relation: Inherence and Subsistence (substance and accident), Causality and Dependence (cause and effect), Community (reciprocity)

4. Modality: Possibility, Existence, and Necessity
   

In his Science of Knowledge, Fichte explains how these categories are developed within the "I." His writing often comes across as defensive, attempting to anticipate and address potential criticism of his ideas. This makes his presentation slower, with a tone that can sometimes seem critical or even bitter. However, this attitude is understandable — Fichte's ambition was nothing less than to replace the entire foundation of philosophy with his own system.

Regardless of his tone, Fichte's approach becomes clearer when viewed as a systematic, linear progression that applies his dialectical method to Kant's categories of understanding. To delve deeper, we must explore Fichte's three base principles and see how his systematic explanation of these principles corresponds to Kant's framework.

Fichte’s Three Base Principles

In the second introduction to his Science of Knowledge, Fichte lays out the foundational principles that he later develops in greater detail:

1. The Principle of the "I" (Thesis): The positing of the "I."

2. The Principle of Opposition (Antithesis): The appearance of the "Not-I."

3. The Principle of Mutual Ground (Synthesis): The concept of the transcendental "Absolute I."

Fichte systematically builds his philosophy by applying these principles to the structure of Kant’s categories. By doing so, he provides a conceptual framework that integrates the emergence of understanding into the dynamics of the "I" and the "Not-I." His work effectively positions itself as a continuation and, in his view, a completion of Kant's philosophy.